Kentucky's Natural Heritage Exhibit

As a celebration of our 35th anniversary, we have a photo exhibit that is touring the state. Watch this page for a list of locations.

April 15-May 3, 2013: The Morrison Gallery located inside the James S. Owen Building in Room 102 on the campus of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Elizabethtown, Ky.

Exhibit Introduction:Kentucky has a natural diversity of life so rich and complex that reality challenges the imagination.

Fascinating and spectacular plants and animals such as the rainbow darter, golden mouse, cobra clubtail, three-birds orchid, and tiger salamander aren’t found in the Amazon; they live among us in the remarkably rich prairies, rivers and forests of Kentucky, along with more than 19,000 other species. These unique and interesting species form natural communities and collectively are a living environmental support system upon which we depend – the web of life, or biodiversity.

Kentucky is nationally recognized for the remarkable diversity of several animal groups. The state ranks third in the nation in native freshwater fish, fourth in native freshwater mussel species and fifth in native crayfish diversity. Our cave systems and the organisms they support are world renowned – Mammoth Cave is the longest-known cave in the world. The mixed mesophytic forest in the mountains of eastern Kentucky is considered one of the most diverse temperate deciduous forests on earth.

While this exhibit is only a glimpse of the state’s many organisms and natural communities, perhaps it will be enough to give you a new appreciation for the diversity of life within Kentucky. We are convinced biodiversity is worth protecting, and we hope this exhibit will also convince you.

Exhibit Images:The photographs were printed on aluminum, which gives them a unique look. View a few of the 21 photographs from the exhibit by visiting our flickr gallery.

Kentucky’s Natural Heritage: An Illustrated Guide to BiodiversityMost of the photographs in this exhibit are in our newest publication.

“A publication and an event of inestimable significance...No other book that I have read has helped me so much to think about the land of Kentucky.” ~from the foreword by Wendell Berry